Herb Mark was a 24-year-old unemployed male. Well, 'formerly unemployed'.
Right now, he walked at the very edge of Menai's boundaries. A glance at him most would assume him just another person of the area, but his actual home was in Bangor. Mostly filled with slums nowadays after that, one A-rank gate opened a decade ago, but home was home.
He shifted his hands in his pockets and felt the firm shape of the phone he had just stolen. A smile plastered onto his face as he boarded the tram that had just pulled around the corner and came to a halt.
He let the tram move and within a few minutes; he was back in Bangor.
He paid his fee, walked down the streets for a bit and headed East towards the corporate buildings and offices. A tune was playing in his mind as he walked a block and stood before his destination. A large multistorey car park.
Herb wore a blue hoodie on and pulled up the cowl as he crossed the road and entered the car park. Being seen wasn't really a worry, as he had no fear of the police right then. But he also had a sort of infamy around these parts. The Blue Hoodie.
Unimpressive? he didn't really care. After all, it was none other than the locals who gave him that nickname. Once in a while, he would get caught by the police and jailed, or if he was very unlucky, get caught by a social welfare hero. But later he always walked out free. Mostly because he willingly returned what he stole, and pick-pocketing was considered a minor offence.
But recently he had been given an offer to grand to refuse. One good enough to make him pay the tram to Menai.
He moved to the third floor of the car-park, strolling up the ramps and around the flashy cars of the wealthy corporate workers in the area.
Once he reached he saw his car parked at the very end of the row. A nice blue sedan, recently cleaned and tuned. It was a proud piece of work, large steel plate rims, a beautiful black and red wrap and low body. A sports car, if you will.
Herb loved it more than he loved stealing. And with the money he had been sent recently, he could add that new engine he wanted for it.
As he walked towards the car, Herb contemplated on what route he should take to the delivery point. He got in and turned on the engine. It purred like a beauty and Herb grinned like an idiot.
He pulled out the lot and started driving towards the ramp down, when suddenly a figure purposely stepped into the way, hands jammed in pockets.
Herb honked the horn and muttered to himself.
But once the person stepped in closer. Herb nearly wanted to scream.
Oliver Smith was headed right toward him.
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{I'll kill him!}
This was all that came to Oliver's mind as he stopped by an internet cafe nearby. It wasn't very popular, save for a few people. Oliver paid for the service with the money in his wallet (it irked him that his phone was taken instead of the damned wallet) and walked to one of the computers.
There was a common feature on phones and laptops of the modern day. Tracking.
It wasn't anything new. It was the same technology as over 300 years ago. But the difference for Oliver was that his phone had an app on t that ran in the background. It was none other than [Keep it going], the game he hadn't played in the last 3-4 days.
The reason this mattered was that the game had a feature that required location permissions. It transmitted your location and updated it regularly so that nearby players could meet up. It was rather simple, and all Oliver did was log into his friend's account on the website and checked his own device's 'location.'
It was heading toward the Bangor, right on the very edge of Menai.
Oliver sat back in the chair and contemplated his options. If he chased the thief right away, he wouldn't be able to know whether he turned on the way or not. Oliver could monitor the movement with the computer, but the moment he moved away, it would be no different from going in blind.
He needed a device to carry along with him to track it down.
Oliver thought for a bit before realising his solution
For but a moment, a devilish grin was on Oliver's face. One of someone who sought nothing but revenge, who knew the chaos he would cause, and care for naught else.
He would kill that thief. It was a foregone conclusion.
********************************************
Herb crashed out of his car. He was not going to run over a kid with his car.
Instead, he clambered out and held in his hand a standard civilian plastic handgun. Light and intimidating, he pointed it at Oliver.
Herb was an evolved, he was more than a threat to Oliver's life, but once Herb saw that manic smile on Oliver's face; he knew something was not right.
"Step back kid. I don't need your problems."
Herb knew nothing of the person he had robbed. Except that he must be an 'evolved' otherwise there would have been no way he could keep up with Herb during that chase scene back in Menai.
Oliver kept walking until he was simply a few feet away. Herb trained the barrel to Oliver's heart. Menace dripped from his voice.
"I wouldn't be doing this if it was simply stealing a phone. But I've got more to earn than you know. Just get lost and buy a new one. Hell, I'll even give you cash. How much is this one?"
Herb asked sincerely. Nothing but honesty in his voice, but Oliver laughed. It was nonsensical.
Herb clicked his tongue and placed his gun inside his jeans. He had no need for a gun anyway, especially if this kid was an 'evolved'.
Instead, he balled his hands into fists and raised them in the traditional boxing stance.
Oliver simply smiled and withdrew his hands from the pocket and took two steps.
That was all Herb needed.
His right knee bent towards his left and his upper body twisted suddenly. In the blink of an eye he threw a straight punch towards Oliver's face. The arm was nothing more than a blur as it flew towards Oliver.
Herb's ability was 'Muscle Drive'. An E-rank ability that mutated Herb's body into a prime human physique. He could control the force of each muscle and imitate the 'Superhuman' ability of 2nd gens.. Herb had also taken boxing classes to complement his ability.
'Muscle drive could increase body functions and movement up to 3 times the original power. And right then, Herb cranked it up to X2.
Herb's blow struck empty air as Oliver suddenly moved closer. It was surprising, because Herb didn't expect such a fast reaction.
But Oliver couldn't care less what Herb thought and delivered a straight punch to the face.
Herb's head knocked back and for a moment, his vision went white.
{The hell...}
Oliver didn't give him a chance and grabbed Herb by the hoodie as he was about to fall. Herb was startled before he received another tremendous blow point black on his nose.
He toppled over spectacularly.